Rabbi Akiba ben Joseph (approx. 15-135 C.E.)
A poor, semi-literate shepherd, Rabbi Akiba became one of Judaism's
greatest scholars and leading rabbi and teacher of his time with a great
folloiwng. Rabbi Akiva developed the exegetical method of the Mishnah,
linking each traditional practice to a basis in the biblical text, and
systematized the material that later became the Mishnah.

During "Sefirat Ha'Omer"
or the "Sfira" as it is usually referred to, observant Jews
commemorate the loss of thousands of the students of the great 2nd
century sage, Rabbi Akiva. The Talmud relates that due to
lack of respect for each other, Rabbi Akiva's students were
struck with a terrible plague. On the 33rd day of the Omer, the plague
ended, but nearly all of Rabbi Akiva's 24,000 students had
perished. To commemorate the tragic loss of these Torah Scholars,
32 days of the Omer are marked as days of mourning, during which
observant Jews refrain from marrying, shaving, cutting hair and
listening to live music.

Rabbi Akiva persevered after this great tragedy and continued to
teach those students who had survived the plague, as well as new
students.

Rabbi Akiba was active in the Bar Kokhba rebellion against Rome. He
believed that Bar Kokhba was the Moshiach (messiah), though his
contemporary rabbis openly ridiculed him for that belief (the Talmud
records another rabbi as saying, "Akiba, grass will grow in your cheeks
and still the son of David will not have come.") When the Bar Kokhba
rebellion failed, Rabbi Akiba was taken by the Roman authorities and
tortured to death.

One of Rabbi Akiva's surviving disciples,
Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai is
also deeply connected with the 33rd day of the Omer. Rabbi
Shimon Bar Yochai spent his life studying the Kabbalah, the
hidden esoteric aspects of the Torah. According to tradition, on
the 33rd day of the counting of the Omer, Rabbi Shimon Bar
Yochai finished revealing his teachings, recorded in the famed book,
the holy Zohar. He died that evening, and was buried in the cave
on Mount Meron, near Safed, where he had lived.

Mazor Guide to Lag b'Omer brings you much more about the holiday, its
meaning and its traditions... See the links below.